Gospel.com Blog

There’s a fascinating and disturbing new article by Hanna Rosin in The Atlantic that wonders if popular Christian teaching about money and finances contributed to the recent economic crash.

I’ve read many critiques of “prosperity theology” over the years, and tend to agree with claims that it’s a dangerous and unbiblical twist on the Gospel message. And most of the critiques I’ve read have focused on the phenomenon’s theological merits. But what are the real-world results of applying prosperity theology to your life? Are you more likely to take out a mortgage you can’t afford? Are you more likely to live beyond your means? The Atlantic piece finds some evidence that there’s more than just theology at stake:

More recently, critics have begun to argue that the prosperity gospel, echoed in churches across the country, might have played a part in the economic collapse. In 2008, in the online magazine Religion Dispatches, Jonathan Walton, a professor of religious studies at the University of California at Riverside, warned:

Narratives of how “God blessed me with my first house despite my credit” were common … Sermons declaring “It’s your season of overflow” supplanted messages of economic sobriety and disinterested sacrifice. Yet as folks were testifying about “what God can do,” little attention was paid to a predatory subprime-mortgage industry, relaxed credit standards, or the dangers of using one’s home equity as an ATM.

In 2004, Walton was researching a book about black televangelists. “I would hear consistent testimonies about how ‘once I was renting and now God let me own my own home,’ or ‘I was afraid of the loan officer, but God directed him to ignore my bad credit and blessed me with my first home,’” he says. “This trope was so common in these churches that I just became immune to it. Only later did I connect it to this disaster.”

The article also points out some truly disturbing instances in which banks and churches collaborated to pitch “financial empowerment.” The article is worth reading in full; it does not leave one feeling very positive about the prosperity gospel, but it does give adherents a chance to defend their beliefs.

After you’ve read the article, I also recommend a follow-up post at the Kruse Kronicle blog which cautions that Christians shouldn’t pin all of the blame on prosperity teaching. Mainstream churches too have failed to help Christians discern and follow Biblical teachings about money and finances.

What do you think? Does the church bear any blame for Americans’ poor financial habits and the economic crisis that continues to exact its toll on millions? What could or should the church be doing to help, now that the crisis is here?

A few days ago, Out of Ur pointed to this video on the prosperity Gospel produced by The Global Conversation, which is a partnership between Christianity Today and the Lausanne Movement. The Global Conversation is a year-long project exploring global Christianity through videos and essays.

The video describes how the export of the distinctly American prosperity Gospel is affecting Africa:

The Prosperity Gospel from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

Few topics within the Christian faith have inspired as much speculation and literature as the Second Coming of Jesus Christ—the day in which he will return, as was promised thousands of year ago. A look at Christian non-fiction over the last few decades suggests that many Christians believe that event will take place within their lifetimes—but then again, Christians in every generation since Christ have hoped for the same thing.

What about you? With the disclaimer that nobody can know for sure, do you expect the Second Coming will take place in your lifetime? Why or why not?

Share your thoughts!

On the seventh day of the Creation story, God took a sabbath and rested from His work. Later, keeping a sabbath was included in the ten commandments.

Rest is clearly an important activity, but I’d argue that in the Western world we don’t do a great job of emphasizing how important it really is.

What about you? Do you take a regular sabbath?

Share your thoughts!

When you hear somebody describe themselves as an “ex-Christian” or “former Christian,” what’s your reaction?

In my journey through different churches in the course of my life, I’ve heard a number of different Christian perspectives on this. Some Christians believe that it’s entirely possible to stop being a Christian and renounce your saving relationship with Jesus Christ. I’ve heard others suggest that it’s not possible to be an “ex-Christian,” and so anyone claiming to be one is either mistaken or was never truly a believer.

What do you think?

Share your thoughts!

For Sam Allberry, confessing that you believe in the Trinity is one thing, actually acting like it’s true is another.

Sam argues in his provocatively titled post, The Rise of Islamic Christianity, that it’s possible to hold to a stated belief in the Trinity, yet functionally act as if we are Unitarians. Unless we actively seek to involve Trinitarian thinking into our lives and community we’ll find ourselves in two predicaments:

1. Our view of church will become functional and not relational.
We will only meet to “do” things, and will not really see the point of meeting for merely social reasons. Our gatherings will become a matter of utility and not family….The minister will see his congregation as ‘clients’; his ministry as one of shunting people through the right programs. He will see himself as a professional ‘Bible teacher’. His people will feel handled rather than loved. The church will be the place to grow for a while in understanding, or at least in Bible knowledge, but will not be the place to find authentic Christian community.

2. Our aim for church will be uniformity and not diversity.
The Trinity shows us a God who is unity in diversity rather than unity in sameness. The Father, Son and Spirit are not interchangeable. They share an ontological unity, but function differently within the purposes of God. This lies behind Paul’s teaching on the variety of gifts found in the church in 1 Corinthians 12:4-6.

He continues to argue that acting as Unitarians leads to conformity of the worst kind. We won’t value the diverse gifts of the kingdom. We won’t even be able to act as the body of Christ because instead of celebrating the cornucopia of spiritual gifts, we’ll uphold one gift as the only true one.

In my mind, Allberry’s key point is that our belief in the Trinity is both an intellectual and a spiritual matter.

Some struggle with the intellectual aspect of the Trinity, it might never make philosophical sense, but they can readily trust in it by faith. For others, they have no problem intellectually believing it, it’s the faith part they have a hard time with. Either way, it should be patently clear to anyone who has tried to discuss the Trinity that it’s not an easy concept to grasp, but—as Allberry points out—it has profound effects on everything to do with our faith: how we read the Bible, how we interact with God, how we pray, how we live in community, etc.

Do you agree with Allberry? Have you seen how your beliefs (or other’s beliefs) about the Trinity effect interactions with other people? Can a nominal belief in the Trinity really lead to a dismantling of Christian community?

The word “martyr” has been in the news quite a bit over the last few years. It’s most commonly mentioned in reference to terrorism, since terrorist groups often describe suicide bombers or slain militants as martyrs.

Occasionally, one hears of Christians, Buddhists, or adherents of other religions being martyred—typically when they’re killed by an oppressive government or angry mob because of their faith. Nearly every major religion throughout history can point to martyrs who have died rather than abandon their beliefs.

But what does it really mean, theologically speaking, to be a martyr?

A new article at Answers in Genesis delves into the topic of martyrdom, and concludes that martyrdom means something different for Christians than it does for other religions. In the days of the early Christian church, martyrdom meant something more specific than the modern idea of “somebody who dies because of their beliefs.” What makes Christian martyrdom different than, say, Buddhist or Hindu martyrdom?

The article draws on the famous story of the martyrdom of Stephen, so you might want to familiarize yourself with that Bible passage before diving into the essay.

There’s no theological topic more important to the Christian faith than the doctrine of salvation. The question of how we are saved from sin continues to be actively discussed and debated even today, and one theologian who has brought a new angle to the age-old topic is N.T. Wright. He’s championed what some call the “New Perspective” on the writings of Paul, and in particular the doctrine of justification.

It’s a complicated subject, but you can read some of Wright’s views in his 2003 essay on Paul. Wright’s perspective on justification is not without its critics, including the respected theologian John Piper, who disagrees with Wright’s take.

Why bring up an ongoing theological debate here? Because InterVarsity Press recently published Wright’s latest book Justification, in which he responds to criticisms of his ideas. IVPress has put the first chapter of the book and an extensive Q&A with Wright about Justification online. To read Wright’s full take, of course, you’ll have to pick up the book, but between the free chapter and the Q&A, there’s a lot of fodder for reflection and discussion.

Happy birthday, John Calvin! 500 years ago today, the famous reformer and theologian was born in France. His preaching and writing—especially his most famous work, Institutes of the Christian Religion—have had an enormous influence on Christianity through the centuries after his death.

Here are a few interesting Calvin-related resources from the Gospel.com community and around the web:

• The Wikipedia entry on John Calvin is a good place to start.
• The sovereignty of God (on which the much-debated doctrine of predestination is based) was one of the central elements of Calvin’s theology. The Christian History Institute has a nice introduction to Calvin’s thoughts on God’s sovereignty, and an excerpt from the Institutes in which Calvin lays out his thoughts on the matter.
• Much has been written about Calvin online, but if you prefer to dive right into his original writings, you might try SermonIndex’s collection of famous John Calvin sermons in MP3. (Recorded by modern preachers, of course—alas, John Calvin himself had no iPod or MP3 player.)
• And if you’re feeling really bold, you can jump into the massive Institutes of the Christian Religion itself at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

Now go enjoy your weekend. And if you figure out how to fit 500 candles onto that John Calvin birthday cake you’re baking, please send us pictures…

It’s John Calvin’s 500th birthday! Well, it isn’t exactly his birthday quite yet (that doesn’t happen until July 10 this year). But that hasn’t stopped a lot of people from celebrating the hugely influential theologian’s life and work—there are conferences engaging Calvin’s legacy scheduled all throughout the year.

You don’t have to adhere to Calvinist theology to acknowledge the enormous significance of Calvin’s contributions to church history. Calvinism continues to be an important influence in Christainity today; Time Magazine recently noted its resurgence in evangelical circles. In honor of Calvin, then, here are a few links to help you get in on the celebration this year:

• Not surprisingly, Calvin College in Grand Rapids has an extremely comprehensive list of Calvin-related conferences taking place in 2009. They’re taking place all over the world, from Tokyo to Calvin College’s own backyard in Michigan.
• Perhaps the biggest Calvin celebration this year is the Calvin Quicentenniary, a conference and tour that visits most of the major locations relevant to Calvin’s life and ministry, and which features talks by a wide range of Calvin scholars. Have room in your schedule to visit Geneva, Switzerland this July?
• Even if you’re not participating in the big Calvin conference just mentioned, the Calvin 500 Blog is posting daily about all manner of Calvin-related events, trivia, and discussion.
• If you aren’t familiar with John Calvin or his teachings, there’s a good overview of his life and theology at the Christain History Institute. The Wikipedia entries for John Calvin and Calvinism have more detailed information if you’re interested.
• Calvin’s most important written work, Institutes of the Christian Religion, is available online for free at Christian Classics Ethereal Library, if you really want to delve into Calvin’s ideas.
• Not every Christian adheres to Calvinist theology, of course. The main theological branch of Christianity that is generally set in opposition to Calvinism is Arminianism. Googling around the web will turn up a lot of different (and strongly-held) opinions about the two strains of theology; for a neutral perspective, start with Wikipedia’s entry on the ongoing Calvinism/Arminianism debate.

Calvin’s birthday might not be the flashiest event in church history, but it’s an important one. Take advantage of this anniversary to learn a bit more about one of the church’s most famous scholars!